Spare me some of your time
I’d like to share to you my inspiration.
You see, I was brought to this unexpected destination,
as part of a system called education.
I’m not an expert in education.
My diploma is in communication
but I have always loved children,
always curious about their creation.
They have a different world, a universe of their own –
uncontaminated, untainted, unsophisticated.
But because of human nature, we – the adults,
demolished, insulted, neglected the freedom to be their own.
We call this process, EDUCATION.
This is my view, a letter to you.
Dear Once a Student,
Do you still remember the number of hours you sat still in a class?
that when you move or chat you are threatened not to pass?
Dear Teacher,
It is only through practice we can master our movements.
and just like you, we yearn the need to communicate.
To make the matter worse, we were trained
to be silent and to hear you.
Now, let me ask you,
“Were you ever curious about our view?”
Dear Once a Student,
Do you still remember the subjects we had?
Math and English in the primary years,
then they added Filipino, Science and history.
I thought it will never last.
I was right.
They added Values, MAPEH and TLE
And guess what? We memorized all the strokes, but never learned how to swim
We know honesty is the best policy,
but it is better to cheat than to displease the examiner
Dear Examiner,
We have learned all the words,
all adjectives and the verbs
even the synonyms and antonyms.
But after the exam, all to no avail.
Because our hearts yearn not for words,
but for the universe.
We have learned history, mathematics and geography
But we failed to learn the purpose of this reality.
Dear Once a Student,
Do you still remember the time when you wished to be number one?
You had friends and a lot of time
but you prefer to study alone and miss all the fun
because what is important is that number one.
Forget the other things just not that crown
Dear Teacher,
These other things are my childhood
life itself and its very root.
The adventures I should have had
The friends I should have met
The life I should have lived.
All for what? Number 1?
Competition is good but compassion is greater,
and its only on the other things we learn the latter.
So, you see,
We had values with NO people,
Excellence with NO reason
Education with NO illumination
We were put in a box of perfection and competition
Then shoved into the world that needs faith and compassion
Dear Once a Student,
Despite all these, you know when I say that there will always be one or two
educators that we considered true.
They give not exams, no lectures, none of the pressures
but only life stories – the real treasure
not lessons nor opinions
but rather, all forms of inspirations.
They give not just time but their lives.
A teacher once told me,
Life is an equation
It has balance that needs consideration
Life is a novel
Success only comes to those who are noble
Life is a circle
It has thousands of sides creating one whole
So, you see, my dear teachers
It’s not about how many reports you have made nor test papers you have checked.
We just need you to inspire us to admire life.
Now, that I am a teacher, I should always be reminded
that there is no perfection in education only inspiration.
I was never once a student but is forever a student
Zeeglas 